charlatan

noun

char·​la·​tan ˈshär-lə-tən 

1

: quack entry 4 sense 2

charlatans harming their patients with dubious procedures

2

: one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability : fraud, faker

a charlatan willing to do and say virtually anything to remain in the spotlight

—Alan Brinkley

charlatanism

ˈshär-lə-tə-ˌni-zəm 

noun

charlatanry

ˈshär-lə-tən-rē 

noun

Did you know?

In medieval Italy, people roamed throughout the land selling fake remedies and making false claims about their healing abilities. Many of these pretenders reputedly came from a village called Cerreto, and as a result, cerretano (meaning “inhabitant of Cerreto”) became an epithet for a quack physician. In addition, these frauds used a practiced patter to attract customers, like the chatter of a circus barker. The Italian word for “to chatter” is ciarlare, and chattering was so associated with the cerretano that the spelling of the word shifted to ciarlatano. By the early 17th century, English speakers had anglicized the Italian word to charlatan and adopted it as their own.

Synonyms

• fake
• faker
• fakir
• fraud
• hoaxer
• humbug
• impostor
• imposter
• mountebank
• phony
• phoney
• pretender
• quack
• quacksalver
• ringer
• sham

Examples of charlatan in a Sentence

the famed faith healer turned out to be a charlatan

Recent Examples on the Web

What’s interesting about it is that in the book, the Dragon Queen is very obviously a con woman and a charlatan right away, and she was based on someone that’s real. —Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024

This is not a situation where, say, an elderly person of limited means, knowledge and capacity was duped by a charlatan and there’s a viable case for unconscionability. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 27 Sep. 2024

Nadia, the Russian mail-order bride of Jez Butterworth’s 2001 film Birthday Girl, bounces unnervingly among multiple guises: seducer, charlatan, love interest. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2024

In the movie, Spike, the charlatan Faye Valentine, the ex-cop Jet, the young hacker Ed and the corgi Ein chase a new target, an ex-soldier named Vincent who plots to release a bioweapon on Halloween. —Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Italian ciarlatano, alteration of cerretano, literally, inhabitant of Cerreto, from Cerreto, Italy

First Known Use

1618, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

charlatan

noun

char·​la·​tan ˈshär-lə-tən 

: a person who pretends to have knowledge or ability

Etymology

from Italian ciarlatano "charlatan," an altered form of cerretano (same meaning), literally, "inhabitant of Cerreto (village in Italy)"

Word Origin

In the early 16th century people claiming medical skills they did not really have wandered throughout Italy. They sold medicines of little or no value. Because many of these fakers came from a village called Cerreto, the name cerretano, meaning "inhabitant of Cerreto," became a general name for a medical faker. Such people always had a line of talk to help them sell their products. Through the influence of the Italian word ciarlare, meaning "to chatter," the word cerretano, when used to refer to these fakers, became ciarlatano. It is from this word that we get our English charlatan.

Medical Definition

charlatan

noun

char·​la·​tan ˈshär-lət-ən 

: quack